A vegetable resin, brittle,
glittering, and of a bitter taste, used for the purpose of sacrificial
fumigation. (Exodus 30:34-36) It was called frank because of the freeness
with which, when burned, it gives forth its odor. It burns for a long time,
with a steady flame. It is obtained by successive incisions in the bark of a
tree called Arbor thuris. The first incision yields the purest and whitest
resin, while the product of the after incisions is spotted with yellow, and
loses its whiteness altogether as it becomes old. The Hebrews imported their
frankincense from Arabia, (Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 6:20) and more particularly
from Saba; but it is remarkable that at present the Arabian libanum or
olibanum is a very inferior kind, and that the finest frankincense imported
into Turkey comes through Arabia from the islands of the Indian Archipelago,
and you can find more about that here on
st-takla.org on other commentaries and
dictionary entries. There can be little doubt that the tree which produces
the Indian frankincense is the Boswellia serrata of Roxburgh, or Boswellia
thurifera of Colebrooke, and bears some resemblance when young to the
mountain ash. It grows to be forty feet high.